


rescue from the ice

by dweirs



Category: Primeval: New World
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2017-12-04 09:30:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/709215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dweirs/pseuds/dweirs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an accident at the Tank ending with Dylan and Evan getting stuck on the other side of an anomaly, they’ve spent the past 3 years trapped in the Ice Age. Things have changed considerably since then, but with Toby’s new device to reopen anomalies, Dylan and Evan have been brought home. Unfortunately, the last three years have brought about an extra person to rescue, and with the anomaly opener malfunctioning it needs a speedy fix so they can complete their rescue mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	rescue from the ice

Heated breath left Evan’s mouth in a small cloud in front of him as he stood on the snowy ground, staying on full alert as he kept his eyes and ears open for any sounds. After three years in the icy wasteland, Evan became accustomed to spending many a night or early morning like this, keeping watch for any possible predators that could attack the small encampment in which he currently stayed. The location changed every so often as the group traveled to more beneficial places, but the way in which they lived never changed. At first it took some getting used to with the fact that communication was all but severed with the lack of coherent language from humans in this time period, but that was nothing compared to the lifestyle in general. Far below freezing temperatures day and night, hours spent making spears, hunting, and sleeping atop a bed of snow. Meals were not always a given, saber tooth tigers and other such animals a constant threat, and simple mistakes could easily end in death. Evan was never the outdoorsy type even back home, so there were a lot of things he needed to learn as he went.

Evan let out a heavy sigh and pulled up the fur hood attached to his shirt, seeking as much warmth as he could manage from the intense cold. Getting used to it proved difficult and it still chilled him to the bone, but surviving it was the only thing in his mind. He lived in Canada, after all. Freezing weather was nothing new to him. As the minutes ticked by, he raised his eyes towards the sky to check the height of the sun. The rays of light were beginning to come up over the horizon, and it would take its place in the sky soon enough. He lowered his eyes back down to peer into the darkness, however, keeping an eye out for any movement. Hours sitting in front of a computer screen at work for so many years put a bit of a toll on his eyesight, but he’d adjusted in the three years he’d been stuck here. It slowly grew easier for him to see movement in the dim lighting before the sun fully rose if anything drew near.

Another several minutes of pure silence passed, and he was grateful for the peace. Night watches proved slow, but he preferred that over battling for his life and the lives of everyone else as they tried to catch as much sleep as they could through the cold, bitter nights. As time passed, however, Evan noticed small beams of lights out of the corner of his eye, and he turned his head. The beams of light were small, but easily noticeable as they penetrated through the darkness. Nothing natural in this time would be making beams of light like that – not at this time of day, at least. For a moment, he tilted his head curiously, wondering if he might simply be seeing things. It could just be the slowly rising sun playing tricks on his eyes as it reflected off the fallen snow upon the ground, but the hope bubbled up within him nonetheless.

He moved carefully through the snow, and the spear in his hand became a sort of walking stick as it always did to help him across the snow-packed ground. Slowly he drew ever closer to the beams of light, seemingly coming from just around the corner of the tall cliff that stood overhead. As Evan walked closer, the light grew brighter, and when he at last rounded the corner, he could only stop and stare in shock and awe for a moment before turning right back.

Evan instantly broke into a run, and he could feel the hope that bubbled up inside him previously become real. It took only a few, short minutes for him to arrive back in the small encampment, bounding past the tents until he came to the one he left just hours earlier when he went out for the night watch. Knowing the inhabitants would still be fast asleep at this hour, Evan took a quick second to catch his breath before throwing open the flaps as silently as he could. Apparently he didn’t manage to stay quiet enough as he earned a harsh shushing from the young girl sitting in the corner of the tent. Evan still didn’t even know the girl’s name, or if she even had one, but he did know she’d seemed to become attached to them since they arrived and helped them out immensely since their arrival. Evan gave a small nod in apology but turned his attention to the sleeping figure in the center of the room instead, whom now began to stir at the sudden noise. She always stirred at the slightest sound these days, and he couldn’t blame her, although he wished she could rest peacefully. But hopefully these days were over now and they could go home.

“Evan, what is it?” Dylan whispered softly, her long, tousled hair falling over her shoulder as she carefully sat up, doing her best to make as little movement as possible. The worry etched on her face quickly faded to one of confusion as she saw the excitement in Evan’s expression, and a there was a flicker of hope in her hazel eyes. He quickly beckoned her out of the tent, which she did after placing a soft kiss atop the small bundle beside her and signaling to the girl in the corner of the tent that she’d be back shortly. Following him outside the tent, she closed the tent flaps softly behind her. No sooner had she done that, Evan grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the small camp and towards the corner of the cliff.

She followed along, doing her best to keep up in her tired state as they ran along the snow. “Evan, hey, what’s going on?” Dylan insisted, still completely clueless as to what was happening. Evan stopped abruptly, turning around to face her. “I just need you to follow me, ok? Don’t ask until you see it. I need you to see it too that way I know I’m not seeing things, ok?” That was precisely what Evan feared most. Going this long without a glimmer of hope could make one desperate.

The words sent a tiny sliver of hope through her, and she nodded. Only one possible thing could have Evan acting this odd. After three years, Dylan and Evan both began losing hope for that. But just maybe that hope hadn’t completely disappeared yet. Dylan gave a fierce nod, and Evan turned back around, running once more, his hand still intertwined tightly with Dylan’s. With Evan’s desperate pace it took only a minute for them to arrive around the corner. The beams of light still shone, though they were slightly less obvious with the sun rising higher in the sky. But when they rounded the corner, it was most definitely there, shining just as brilliantly as they both remembered.

The anomaly.

“You see that, right?”

Evan’s voice brought Dylan’s attention away from the anomaly, where her eyes were previously transfixed, a look of awe on her face. She nodded at his question before turning to face him, and the hopeful smile on her face faltered slightly as her eyes flickered back to the anomaly. “You think it actually leads home?”

Evan let out a sigh of relief, finally gaining confirmation that he wasn’t crazy and seeing things. The hope on his face faltered as well, however, at Dylan’s question. They both feared that, and rightfully so. An anomaly could lead anywhere. “Yeah, well, that’s the big question, isn’t it?”

For a few moments they merely stood there, staring at the anomaly as it shone brilliantly in the light from the rising sun. It held both hope and doom equally, and the two of them knew that. The question was which one it held. Going through into some place more dangerous than the one they currently dwelled in could end badly for all of them, but it could also lead the way home. Either way, there was only so much time to decide before they lost the chance forever.

“We should check it out real quick. If that doesn’t lead home or anywhere better than here…I’m not taking her through it, Evan,” Dylan announced finally.

Evan hesitated before answering. Part of him wanted to simply lead them all through right now without bothering, but Dylan definitely had a point. They could land themselves in an even worse situation if they weren’t careful about this. “Yeah, you’re right. It shouldn’t take more than a minute. We should be sure.”

He looked over to give her a slight nod. The question of one of them checking it out alone never even sprung up in either of their minds. They’d been a team far before they ended up stuck here and it certainly wasn’t changing now. They quickly worked out a small plan to make sure they didn’t have any accidents similar to their second anomaly trip. The last thing they needed was to fall several feet down with no way of coming back through. Evan set his spear into the snow, making sure it stuck tight and held onto it, allowing Dylan to cautiously stick a foot through as she held onto Evan’s hand tightly. It wasn’t exactly foolproof, but it was all they had given the circumstances. When her foot came into contact with solid ground, she turned back to give him a nod and he let go of the spear to stand next to her.

Neither of them spoke, but they each took a deep breath before giving each other a nod and stepping through. They could instantly feel the temperature rise and the chilled wind came to a stop. After three years of bitter cold, it actually felt warm. It took a moment to adjust and they blinked several times as their eyes took in the sight of the tile floor, desks scattered with various technology, and glass walls encasing offices. But the second their eyes adjusted, it took less than a second for them to put it all together.

They were home.

“Ha! It worked!” The voice sounded just as Dylan whipped around to head back through the anomaly, now that they knew the anomaly led home. But no sooner had she turned around, the anomaly condensed into nothing, and what was previously a shiny portal back to the ice age they’d walked out of was nothing more than a hard, grey wall. In the time Dylan turned around, Evan had too, and the same look of panic settled onto his face.

“Toby, open it back up,” Evan demanded, his voice quiet as he struggled to keep it under control.

The ecstatic grin on Toby’s face faltered and she looked at them questioningly, clearing having expected a more cheerful greeting for their reunion. “Oookay, no ‘hi’, ‘long time no se—“  

“Open. It.”

Dylan slowly turned around, her hands pressed into her hair as tears began to sting at the corners of her eyes. She could hear the upset in Evan’s tone and she gently placed a hand on his arm in hopes of calming him down, even if she felt the exact same way. The confusion on Toby’s face was obvious at the sudden order, but she nodded nonetheless and looked down to the small device in her hand, which was about the same size as the anomaly detector but clearly had different controls on it. “Um, ok, on it. Let me just—“ Toby stopped then and her brow furrowed as she continued to fumble with the controls. Apparently it wasn’t doing its job and her frustration quickly set in as she furiously hit at the controls until she gave up and rose her gaze towards them. “Ok so, now that it’s worked once apparently it’s given up. You two wanna why me you need it open again? I mean, you’re kinda the only ones who went through, unless you picked up a pet mammoth in the last few years.”  

Evan clearly ignored the question and lurched forward, hands slamming against the edge of the desk. “Well if it’s not working then  _make_  it work! We  _need_  that anomaly open, Toby!”

“Look, I’m sorry, but it’s not working. I can probably fix the issue but I’m gonna ne—“

“We need it working  _now_.”

Seeing how flustered Toby looked over such an angry reunion with Evan, Dylan quickly took hold of his arm and tugged it gently as she tried to coax him away. “I’m sorry, Toby. Can you just give us a second? Please?”

The confusion was still etched on Toby’s features, but she nodded at Dylan and walked off a few paces, still fiddling with the device in her hands. Dylan felt horrible having such an unfriendly reunion with their friend, but under the circumstances, it couldn’t be helped. Perhaps if they hadn’t bothered to check out the anomaly first they wouldn’t have this problem, but it was a risk that neither of them could take. With her hand still on Evan’s arm, she gently tugged his sleeve and pulled him, off to the side. “Evan, don’t take it out on her. Just calm down, ok?”

“You want me to calm down? How am I supposed to do that when she’s stuck back there? With that anomaly closed she’s dead, Dylan.”

“Evan!” Dylan let out a deep breath, still trying to keep her voice steady. “Don’t say that. We were just there. She’s alive, ok? Toby obviously knows how to work that device. And I’m sure with you back you can help Toby fix and it and we can open it and get her back. But don’t say she’s dead. I don’t care about technicalities; five minutes ago she was sleeping right next to me and she is not dead.”

The tears building up in the corners of Dylan’s eyes began trickling down her cheeks now, and she lifted a hand to wipe them away on her sleeve. Evan was fighting to keep his own tears under control, too, and he took a deep breath in an attempt to listen to Dylan and calm himself. She was right, after all, and this wasn’t the best way to deal with the situation. If anything, reacting this way only upset her more and he didn’t want that. Reaching forward he took hold of Dylan’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze, to which Dylan mustered up a tiny smile in response. “We’re going to get her back,” she repeated, reinforcing that as a fact even through her tears.

“I’m sorry. You’re right,” Evan murmured softly. “Let’s just…do our explaining and we’ll work on it. I’m not going to give up on getting back there.” Dylan nodded walked a step forward to wrap her arms around Evan, pulling him close. He quickly returned the embrace, hands rubbing comfortingly at her back as she rested her head against his chest. They stayed that way for a moment or two before Dylan finally pulled away, knowing they couldn’t leave Toby standing there in her confusion forever. Everything else aside, being home felt great, and focusing solely on that kept her calm enough and pushed her worries to the back of her head.

“I’m sorry, Toby. It’s so good to see you again,” Dylan said, a smile coming to her face as she walked over, arms outstretched. Grinning, Toby returned the hug and gave her a pat on the back.

“And I’m sorry for snapping like that,” Evan added with a sigh. “But it is great to see you again, Toby. And to actually be back. What uh…what’s that thing you were using anyway?”

Toby threw a smile Evan’s way as well when she pulled out of Dylan’s embrace and then gave Evan a pat on the arm. “Don’t worry about it. Being…wherever you guys were must have been stressful. I’ll explain the device to you guys in a few minutes but first…I think you might wanna tell me why you need it back open. Or is…that a touchy subject?” She raised an eyebrow in concern as she looked back and forth between them.

Dylan and Evan fell silent again, their faces solemn as they glanced at each other. Finally Dylan let out a soft sigh and turned her focus back to Toby. “Toby… Our daughter is back there. We need the anomaly open again so we can bring her home.”

“Oh, my god.” Toby’s jaw dropped and she blinked a few times as the information processed in her mind. “I’m so, _so_  sorry. Let me just—“ She didn’t finish her sentence, instead rushing right back behind her desk and started fiddling with the device once more in a desperate attempt for the controls to cooperate. Dylan rushed to her side and put a hand on her arm to stop her.

“Toby, it’s alright. It’s not your fault. Let’s just take a few minutes to catch up and everything, alright? Evan can help with the device once he knows more about it.”

She looked over at Evan and he nodded at the both of them. “Dylan’s right. I’ll help repair it or whatever needs to be done but first I need to know about it. But first…where are Ange and Mac at?”

“They’re not in yet. It’s before hours. Ange should be here in an hour or so. Mac should be here any minute since I called him about getting the anomaly open so we could go in and look for you guys.” The trace of guilt in Toby’s expression stayed there but she nodded in agreement at what Evan had said and a few moments later they were all seated at the midway level on the stairs, Dylan and Evan side by side on one of the couches while Toby sat in the opposite one. “Ok so…I’m assuming you guys weren’t any place warm judging by those outfits.” Toby gestured towards the long pants and sleeved shirts, with furry hoods attached that they wore. Various animal kills helped contribute enough skin for Dylan to piece the outfits together. They weren’t much to look at, but it helped shield them from the cold and that was what counted.

“It was the ice age, if you couldn’t tell,” Evan explained.

“And you two managed to survive that long back there?” Toby asked, obviously impressed, though grateful nonetheless they hadn’t met their end.

“We managed to find a nomad tribe passing through the area before nightfall when we got stuck back there,” Dylan added as she cut in. “Communicating was nearly impossible, but we managed to convince them to let us stay with them. A few members helped us get situated and we just…did the best we could to adjust.”

The information was still taking some time to settle in for Toby, but her happiness to have the both of them back as well as the worry for their daughter took precedence over that and she pulled herself together quickly. There were things to get done. Story time could wait until later. “Wow, that’s…crazy, but hey, I’m really glad we got both of you back. I’d love to hear more about living there but I’m sure we should wait til Mac and Ange get here. You guys wanna get cleaned up and changed into something a little less…wooly mammoth?” The three chuckled lightly at the comment, but Dylan and Evan both nodded. “Your apartments are kind of…well, not yours anymore, but we all managed to box up your stuff. They’re in your offices and labeled so finding just the clothes shouldn’t be too hard. I can go ahead and give Mac and Ange a call to hurry down here.”

Toby gave them a soft smile, knowing that given the circumstances they needed some comforting. It was a lot to take in knowing they had a daughter back in the ice age when the last time she’d seen them they’d simply been teammates with a crazy amount of chemistry, but that was three years ago. Obviously, things changed. But now wasn’t the time for stories and that could be dealt with later. The three of them stood from the couches and each shared a quick hug with Toby before thanking her. She descended the stairs and returned to her desk, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she went.                                                      

A short time later found Dylan and Evan in one of the locker rooms, taking advantage of the employee showers. Dylan let out a soft sigh as the hot water ran over them. After so long being stuck in the ice age, warm water felt amazing. Evan gently took hold of her shoulders and pulled her close, arms wrapping around her waist as he pressed a few, tiny kisses to the top of her shoulder. She leaned back against him, just enjoying the feeling of being wrapped in his arms while the water warmed their skin. “God, I forgot how nice it was to have hot water,” she muttered, chuckling lightly.

“Yeah, warm anything was basically nonexistent. I forgot what warm felt like,” Evan replied, only half jokingly. It was true, after all. Even just holding each other close only provided so much warmth against the cold. Enough to help keep them alive, but not enough to feel comfortably warm. “Except for that geyser we found. You remember that?”

Dylan laughed and nodded her head, turning around to face him. “Nature’s best hot tub. Yeah, I remember that. That’s kind of how we ended up with Evelyn, if I remember right.”  A tiny smile tugged at her lips as she looked up at him, arms looping around his back. The smile only lasted a moment before it began to fade, however. No matter how much they tried to keep the conversation light, the fact their daughter still remained back through that anomaly wasn’t something they could easily ignore. Evan let out a sigh and brought her into a tight embrace, resting his head on top of hers. “I’m fine,” Dylan insisted, nodding against his chest before pulling her head away. “She’s not alone back there. She’ll be fine until we get to her.”

Evan offered a small smile, but since he had a million worries himself, he knew he couldn’t do much to comfort her. Just keeping each other close and convincing each other it would be fine was about as much as they could do right now. He rubbed her shoulder lightly, and they both stayed silent for a few moments, just listening to the sound of the water tapping against the tile walls and trickling down to the floor. “Is it bad I kind of want to stall for time before we go out there?” Evan asked, breaking the silence. A subject change was needed anyway, but there were certain things on his mind that just gave him more to worry about.

“Because you’ll have to explain us to Ange?” Dylan gave him a knowing look, but placed a comforting hand on his arm. She knew it was the reason, seeing as before the anomaly closed up on them, Evan and Ange were together. Dylan had been supportive of that despite her growing feelings for Evan, but things changed when they were stuck back there. After about a year they simply stopped trying to be optimistic about the possibility of an anomaly popping up to take them home. And on top of that, their feelings for each other couldn’t exactly be ignored, nor did they see a need to when they were stuck living in the ice age with no hope of seeing the people they once knew ever again. They needed each other. But those feelings had been there before they went through that anomaly, and with the amount of time they spent working together it was probably inevitable that they would have ended up together at some point anyway. The path there simply changed a lot from what might have happened if they never went through.

“It’s not something you can keep from her, Evan. And I’m sure she’d much rather hear it from you than have to piece it together herself. You know that.”

Evan nodded at her words, but sighed heavily. “Oh, I know. But that doesn’t make it any easier.”

Once the water finally began running cold, they stepped out, dried off, and dressed. Being back in their normal clothes felt odd, but it was a good feeling nonetheless. Three years of wearing makeshift clothes made from animal hides made one really appreciate clothes from their own time period. Dylan pulled her hair into a long braid as they walked back into the lab. The whole team had apparently arrived in the time they’d been showering, because Ange, Mac, and Toby were all sitting on the couches atop the stairs as they ascended. Words weren’t even necessary for several minutes as they all simply passed hugs around, too happy to see each other to bother speaking just yet.

“Good to have you back, mates,” Mac said finally, breaking the silence with a large grin.

“And it’s great to be back,” Evan replied.

“It’s been hell trying to keep this place running without the head man for three years, you know,” Ange broke in as she swatted him on the back. “You can thank Toby and Ken Leeds for working on prototypes in your absence.”

Evan raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Toby. “Really? You’ve been doing all that while we were gone?”

“Well, someone had to,” she nodded, shrugging a little. “It slowed down working on what brought you guys home, but it brought in the funds to work on it in the first place.”

They all took a short time to catch up. Evan and Dylan were completely out of the loop about what went on in their absence. After the anomaly closed up on them, Ange had just about had enough of the anomaly business and walked out, unable to deal with losing her best friend. Luckily, Toby’s promise of putting together something that might open the anomaly back up convinced her to keep things going, in the end, and Ken Leeds helped significantly with funds and helping to keep the company going for the purposes of continuing anomaly research (the fact that Ange was the one requesting the help probably helped significantly as well). Toby helped with company things not related to anomalies as necessary thanks to her own knowledge with technology and ability to build things. Of course, anomalies never stopped popping up and Mac handled the majority of them with the help of the military men that Leeds commanded to help them. But overall, their main focus stayed solely on that device, hoping beyond everything that they could manage to find a way to bring them home. Trying to cover up Dylan and Evan’s absence became problematic after a while, though Ken’s cover ups helped greatly in that. Even if they did end up having to clear out both their apartments in the long run, at least they managed to avoid any government questions about their disappearances.

“So, I’d love for us to stand around and chat, but shouldn’t we let the two geniuses talk so we can rescue the little one?” Mac suggested, a cheeky grin on his face. That grin instantly faded when Toby jabbed him hard in the side, to which he gave her a confused look. Apparently she’d filled him in on things before Ange’s arrival, but failed to tell him not to mention too much. The room grew uncomfortably quiet in an instant, lasting for several moments until Ange finally spoke up, the confusion obvious in her face as well. Although hers was for an entirely different reason.

“Little one?” she asked. “What are we talking about here?”

Evan’s face grew solemn as he avoided her gaze, but Dylan quickly nudged him with her elbow. “Ange can we uh… Can we talk? In my office?” Evan said as he finally lifted his gaze towards hers. Ange could see just by the look on his face it wasn’t something she was going to like, but she nodded anyway and turned to make her way up the stairs towards his office. It wasn’t until they heard the door shut that Toby and Dylan both gave Mac disapproving looks.

“Was I not supposed to say anything?”

“I don’t know if you noticed since you were still gushing over my Fatal Babes pictures at the time but Evan and Ange were kind of a thing before he got stuck behind that anomaly with Dylan,” Toby explained in a fierce whisper.

“Oh,” Mac muttered as the confusion faded from his face. “That would explain it, then. So…how was it packing snowballs with cavemen?” He did his best in changing the subject, letting a grin work its way back onto his face.

Dylan finally removed her worried gaze from the office at the top of her stairs and turned to Mac with a slight shake of her head. “Neanderthals, actually. Cavemen were way before that. And we froze our asses off 24/7 for three years, fought off mammoths, played with sloths, and I had to give birth in the snow inside a tent. It was fun.”

“Sounds like a blast.”

Mac chuckled and put a hand on her arm. Dylan really had been missed on the team, not only for her skills but as a friend as well. Not to mention it would have been great to have her there to keep them from panicking. Unfortunately, that simply wasn’t how things worked out, but Mac and Toby were both more than glad to have her, as well as Evan, back home.

“So, Toby. How long do you think it’ll take to get the anomaly opener functioning again?” Dylan asked.

Toby shrugged, giving a small frown as she looked up at her. “Honestly? I’m not sure yet. This is the first time I’ve been able to get it to work. I’ll have to figure out exactly what got it working and then figure out how to keep it working. If Evan and I work on it together I think we should be able to figure it out pretty quick, though. It’s just a matter of actually making it cooperate that’s the problem. Otherwise we’d have had you two back a lot sooner.”

Dylan nodded a little at the information. It might not have been entirely good news but it was hope nonetheless. Sighing heavily, she raised a hand to her head and took a deep breath. She could only stay so calm when she knew her daughter was stuck back there. There were a lot of things that could happen in their absence. She could end up abandoned whenever the tribe packed up and moved again and freeze in the cold. Some animal could take her off for their lunch. And those were only a couple out of millions of things that might happen. Dylan could easily fill her head begin to spin thinking about it, however, and when she practically lost her balance and stumbled slightly she pushed them to the back of her mind. If Toby could bring them back home, then Toby and Evan working together would no doubt bring their daughter back in no time.

“You ok?” Toby asked when she noticed Dylan stumble.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she insisted. Walking a few steps toward the couch she took a seat and curled up onto it, setting her arm against the armrest and letting her head rest in it. “I’m just a little dizzy.”

Toby mustered up a comforting smile towards her and sat down beside her. Mac took the opposite couch. After the rush and panic of trying to scramble about to deal with anomalies with missing teammates and working hard to bring them home, it felt nice to have a little downtime now that their friends were back home. Of course, now they had someone else to bring home, but there was only so much they could do and they all knew waiting for Evan to bring his genius mind to the table in order to help with that would be the better option. Besides, they needed a few moments to recuperate.

“Would it be a bad time to ask about her?” The hesitant question came from Toby after a few moments of silence. “Like, how old is she? What’s her name?”

Dylan turned to face her and smiled a little, shaking her head. “No, it’s fine. You can ask about her. She’s about a year old. Born in April, if we managed to keep track of the days right. Her name is Evelyn.”

The information brought a smile to Toby’s face and she put a comforting hand on Dylan’s back.”I bet she’s really pretty.”

“How do you even manage to get it on in the ice age? Wasn’t it a bit hard – no pun intended -in the snow? If you ask me that brings a whole new meaning to blue ba—“ One disapproving look from Toby and Dylan shut him up. Perhaps discussing the sex life of his boss and coworker wasn’t a good idea in the first place and on second thought, he didn’t particularly want to think about it either. “Right, different question, then. Did you two have some sort of tribal wedding? You could’ve had a little icicle bouquet or however it is they do things back then.”

Dylan chuckled and shook her head. “No, there was no wedding. I’m pretty sure weddings were a foreign concept back then. At least we never saw anything similar. And since we figured we were stuck back there we really never talked about the possibility either. But now that we’re back… Well, we’ll see.” They really had grown a lot closer in their time stuck through that anomaly. However, the feelings that eventually grew into love were already there. Having to depend so heavily on each other to survive simply made them flourish. Living back there may not have been pleasant, but they couldn’t say that a few wonderful things didn’t come from it. 

Although the conversation may have continued, it never had the chance to. The sound of Evan’s office door opening came from the top of the stairs, and Ange’s footsteps followed, her heels clicking against the steps. Evan followed, lagging behind as he slowly came down, his expression still solemn but the relief was there as well. When Ange reached the midlevel where they sat, she stopped and looked up at them, unmistakably upset, although not terribly so and she managed to keep herself controlled well enough. “I have a lot of business things to deal with now that the two of you are back so…as much as I’d love to hang around for stories and all that I really should tend to them and save the catching up for later. Dylan, this is obviously late but congratulations. I’m sure Toby and Evan will manage to open that anomaly back up in no time and get things fixed up.” She quickly forced a smile onto her face before her gaze fell back to the ground and she headed for the second set of stairs down to the main floor of the lab, intent on hurrying out.

“Ange, wait.”

Ange had already made it down the stairs, but she stopped at the sound of Dylan’s voice, and Dylan quickly joined her at the bottom of the steps. Just as Dylan joined up with her, Ange lifted her head, already knowing what Dylan was going to say. “It’s fine, Dylan. Really. I’m happy for you two.” She paused a moment, sighing softly as she composed her words. Although she obviously didn’t seem as fine as she insisted, Dylan couldn’t sense any anger from her. If anything she appeared a little overwhelmed, and honestly, they all felt that way at this point. Ange continued speaking after a few moments but kept her voice low so as not to let their conversation drift up the stairs. “What Evan needed was to move on. That’s all I wanted for him. And honestly, I didn’t doubt that he would realize his feelings for you at some point. I had the feeling if we got you two back it would end up like this and I accepted that a long time ago. Hearing it…just happens to be a little different.”

Dylan nodded slightly. She could understand that, and she didn’t blame Ange for being a little upset. Honestly, she never knew the full story, but she could tell early on Ange’s feelings for Evan were more than the average friendship, and she could imagine that the whole situation wasn’t really ideal for Ange. She’d just gotten that friendship into something more only to have Evan sucked into an anomaly with her and come out with news they had a baby back there.  And considering things never officially ended between Evan and Ange….Dylan could imagine the news would be at least slightly upsetting, whether she managed to move on in the amount of time they’d been gone or not. Reaching forward, Dylan put a hand on Ange’s arm, a soft smile on her lips. “I’m still sorry it worked out like this. It’s not exactly fair for you.”

“You don’t need to be,” Ange insisted. “Besides, now I can feel less guilty for the amount of times I’ve gone to dinner with Ken in the last year or.”

“Really? You and Ken?”

Ange shrugged. “We can leave talking about that for another time. But I really wasn’t lying when I said there’s a lot of things to take care of so I could probably get to them.”

“Right. Sorry, go do your thing.” Dylan let her hand fall back to her side, so as not to keep her from walking off. The two shared a smile before Ange finally turned and walked off, the sound of her heels still clacking against the floor even after she disappeared from sight. It felt comforting knowing Ange didn’t hold it against them for how things turned out. She knew that Ange just needed a little time to let it all sink in. Moving on in their absence and actually hearing all this upon their return were two separate things entirely. Ange was strong, though. Dylan knew she’d be fine.

Dylan turned back towards the stairs just as Evan came to stand beside her. “So, how’d that talk go?” she asked as she looked up at him.

Evan sighed lightly and shrugged in response. “Well, it wasn’t horrible,” he began, frowning just a little. “It’s just not the way I planned on telling Ange things didn’t work out between me and her. She told me it was alright, but it’s obviously still a lot to take in. Me getting stuck in a different time, realizing I’m in love with someone else, and having a kid isn’t exactly the best end to trying out a relationship, y’know?”

Reaching out, Dylan rested her hand against Evan’s back, rubbing, small, comforting circles. She couldn’t imagine it being a pleasant conversation and even if things were resolved, it had to have been emotional for both of them. “I know. A lot of things didn’t work out like anyone planned, though. But you two talked it over. Things just need time to settle down.” She offered a soft smile as she looked up at him, and the corners of his own lips twitched upwards slightly in response. Because as usual, Dylan was right. Things just needed time to process. It didn’t make it any less difficult in the present, but it helped to know that. Plus there were bigger problems at hand at the moment, and there were only so many things they could handle at once.

Mac and Toby both made their way down the stairs, and Toby waved the device in her hands at Evan as she passed on her way to her desk. “Alright, I think it’s time you bring your genius mind to the table and help me get this thing functioning a little more permanently.”

“Yeah, of course. Let’s get that baby fired up.” Evan walked briskly towards Toby’s desk before stopping just beside her, taking the device in his own hands. They quickly fell into conversation as Toby explained the basic idea behind it, what made it tick, and all the necessary information Evan needed about it. While they busied themselves with that, Mac and Dylan announced they were going to pick up food since all of them had yet to eat at this point. Toby and Evan eagerly agreed to this. Besides, Dylan and Mac weren’t exactly needed for the technical aspects, or at least not when it came to this type of technology. Their area of expertise was more in guns and tranquilizers than anything.

Heading up the stairs and out of the tank area to exit the building, Dylan took a deep breath of fresh air. It felt amazing taking a breath without the cold air stinging her lungs. She could breathe normally for the first time in three years. As they arrived in the parking lot, Dylan noticed her van still parked exactly where she left it. Not that she could drive it anymore without the keys. Dylan hadn’t a clue where they were at this point. It only took her a moment to notice they were walking towards her van, however, and she raised an eyebrow when Mac pulled a set of keys from his pocket and dangled them towards her. “Feel like driving?” he asked with a grin.

“And why exactly do you have my keys?”

Mac shrugged. “They were in your desk drawer where you left ‘em before going through that anomaly. I’ve been hanging onto them for when you got back.” He grinned and handed them towards her again.

Dylan smiled but didn’t reach out to take the keys, instead shaking her head lightly. “Thank you, Mac. But you should probably drive. To be honest I’m not feeling that great. Everything going on right now is kinda throwin’ me off.”

“Understandable. Just don’t get carsick on me. It may be your car but I’d rather not be in it if you’re puking all over the windshield.”

She hopped into the car with a roll of her eyes. “No worries. I’m not going to let myself ruin my own car.”

Mac settled into the driver’s seat and started up the car. Just being in a car again almost felt like a foreign feeling, and it was simply another thing that she needed to get used to again. Walking had literally been her only form of transportation for the last 3 years and she missed having the convenience of a car. For a while they rode in silence, and Dylan kept herself occupied looking out the window, cracking it open slightly for the fresh air. There were a lot of simple sights driving around the city that she missed and she wanted to take them all in now. But as they pulled out of the parking lot and slowly began creeping back into the more populated parts of the city, Mac broke the silence and Dylan couldn’t say she minded it. Aside from Evan obviously, Mac was the one teammate she found herself closest to and she really missed having him around.

“So, you’re Mummy Dylan now, aren’t you?” Mac glanced over at her as he stopped at a red light. “Guess that makes you and Evan the first of the team to start a family.”

Turning her attention from outside the window, Dylan looked back over at Mac and smiled, nodding her head at his words. “Yeah, it does. I’m sure it would’ve taken a lot longer if we never went through that anomaly but obviously things don’t go as planned in this line of work.”

“Y’know,” Mac began, turning his focus back on the road as the light turned green and he hit the gas once more. “I always knew you and Evan’d end up together. Basically told him that before you even joined us, actually. That chemistry was obvious from the other side of the city.”

“Well, congrats on your good betting, Sherlock,” Dylan replied with a chuckle. “But what about you and Toby? Don’t tell me you’ve been beating around the bush for three years. I just might have to tranq you.”

“Easy there, don’t get taser happy. You’ll be pleased to know I’m Toby’s new roommate.”

“And?”

“…And boyfriend of two years. Satisfied? Or do you need to hear we’re all set for a June wedding before you’re happy?”

It took a moment for the laughter in the car to fade but when it did, Dylan grinned widely at him and shook her head. “No I don’t need that much. I’m happy for you. And Toby. Besides, it’s not like I can drill you two on marriage when I have a kid and I’m not even married. I’m just happy that you two aren’t still in denial.”

Mac chuckled at her as he pulled into the nearest parking spot in front of the Chinese takeout place. It had quickly become a favorite of the whole team since it was located quite close to the office and when you worked in the anomaly business, little time could be found to actually cook a meal. So it became the most convenient place to go. Once the car was parked, Mac switched it off and he and Dylan climbed out. He raised the tiny remote to lock it behind him before joining up with Dylan on the sidewalk. Mac’s brows furrowed slightly in concern as he saw the look on Dylan’s face, as she seemed to be crinkling her nose. “You alright there?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Dylan insisted. She turned and headed for the door, walking side by side with Mac as they entered the building. Once they entered, however, it became quite clear she was not ok. The moment the intense smell of Chinese food wafted into her nostrils she let out a deep breath and flew a hand up to cover her mouth and nose. “Whoa…ok. Being away from all this for so long makes the smell really intense. Um, you go ahead and order the food. I’ll be right back.”

A confused, albeit worried look worked its way onto Mac’s face as he watched her race off, but he figured it made sense that the smell of any restaurant would be rather overwhelming after a few years of smelling…well, he didn’t know what there was to smell in the ice age other than snow. Which when he thought about it, didn’t have much of a smell to it. So Mac simply shrugged it off and ordered the food, and the two, large, brown paper bags filled with little white boxes were held in his hands by the time Dylan reappeared looking a little out of sorts, but otherwise fine.

“Feeling better?” Mac asked as he handed one of the bags to her so she could help carry it.

“Little bit,” she replied with a shrug and took the bag from him. “We should probably hurry back so we can get the food to Evan and Toby. I don’t know about Toby but I know for a fact Evan hasn’t eaten since that sloth meat yesterday morning…or 20,000 years ago I guess, but you know what I mean.”

Mac opened the door as they went through, but made a face at the mention of the food. “Sloth meat? That sounds disgusting.”

“Eh, it’s edible.”

“Well, either way let’s hurry back so Mama Bear doesn’t have to worry about Papa Bear starving, shall we?” Mac grinned and opened up the middle seats of the van to set one of the takeout bags on the seat, and Dylan followed suit with the bag in her hand.

“You’re never going to get tired of teasing, are you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

 The two got back into their seats while they talked and Mac shook his head at her while putting on his seatbelt. “Nope, probably not. All joking aside, though, if the little one doesn’t call me Uncle Mac we’re going to have a serious problem. Does she have a middle name yet?”

“Once she starts talking if she wants to call you Uncle Mac, then she has my full permission. And I’m sure Evan won’t argue with that. You can even introduce yourself that way if you want,” she replied. “No, she doesn’t have a middle name, though. Why?”

Mac flashed a cocky grin towards her. “Make it Mackenzie, then. Evelyn Mackenzie Cross. Or is it Weir-Cross? Either way, the middle name stands the same.”

Dylan fell silent for a moment, eyes narrowing as she looked over at him. “…Is that really your full name?”

“Hey now, I didn’t ask for you to judge my parents’ decision. I’m only asking you to give little Evie a tribute to her cool Uncle Mac who’s gonna teach her to ride a motorcycle and dye her hair green and…get her tongue pierced or something crazy like that. Actually probably leave the piercings to good ol’ Aunt Toby. You should see some of the piercings she’s got. I knocked one of the little balls on one of the rings off once and nearly choked on the ball. True story. Best not ask where it was, though.”

Chuckling loudly in amusement, Dylan shook her head at him. It took a few moments to stop laughing enough to actually formulate a reply. Once she did, she let out a breath and turned her eyes towards him once more. “I think you might earn the title ‘Crazy Uncle Mac’ a lot easier, but whatever you say. We’ll uh…we’ll talk about middle names once she’s home safe and sound.”

The conversation died down from there. Mac could easily see that joking or not, only so much talk about the kid could happen without it becoming hard on her at some point. Like Dylan said, more talk would come once they brought her home. He couldn’t help much in getting that anomaly open, but he definitely intended to go in with them and make sure they all got back out when the time came. Mac wouldn’t be able to consider himself worthy of being their friend if he didn’t. For right now, however, he would make sure to keep the mood as light as possible, keeping them from ever becoming too downcast until that anomaly opened up. It was all he could do, but he was completely determined to do that to the best of his ability.

Within a short time Mac drove them back to Cross Photonics, and they carried the takeout bags down into the lab. Both Toby and Mac were completely distracted by the work in front of them, with Evan scribbling down equations on the whiteboard beside Toby’s desk and Toby standing beside him, making comments here and there whilst still fiddling with the actual anomaly opener. For a moment, Dylan and Mac could do nothing but stand and watch them, not wanting to interrupt the obvious determination of their actions. But as much they wanted the work done quickly, too, neither wanted to see their significant others keeling over from not properly taking care of themselves.

“We bring wontons and fried rice,” Mac announced finally and held up the bag in his hand.

“Oh goodie. Wannabe Chinese food,” Toby commented with a chuckle as she set the device down on the desk and headed over.

Dylan set the bag on top of Toby’s desk and walked towards Evan, placing a hand lightly on his back. She could see the reluctance on his face, but she nodded her head in the direction of the food insistently. “C’mon. You need to eat, Evan. You’re not going to get anything done if you end up passing out on us.”

It took him a moment, but eventually Evan sighed in defeat and gave her a nod, walking with her to the desk. Toby had since moved to her desk and started moving things aside to make room for the food while Mac unbagged the boxes. “How’s the work goin’ for you two brainiacs?” Mac asked as he passed them both pairs of chopsticks.

“We’re…figuring it out,” Evan shrugged in response. His expression made it obvious he wasn’t pleased with the speed of results, but he said no more, instead focusing on his food as he dipped into the wonton box and stuffed one in his mouth.

“But we should figure out the issue by tonight,” Toby cut in, trying to bring a little optimism to the conversation. “After that it’s just a matter of figuring out how to fix it and actually doing it.”

They were obviously too lost in thought over the work that neither even bothered to launch into long, complicated explanations that they might have under different circumstances. Not that it mattered much since Dylan and Mac wouldn’t understand much of it. All they needed to know was things were coming along, no matter how quickly or slowly the process was. The four ate in silence for a while, save the harsh scoldings from Toby when Mac kept attempting to stick a piece of fried shrimp in her ear. The little event caused the group to momentarily erupt into laughter. Even Toby gave up and joined the laughter when Mac gave himself walrus tusks with his chopsticks. The general mood down in the lab may not have been particularly a happy one, but Mac always knew how to lighten the mood for all of them.

Once the laughter died down enough, the group resumed their meals. Except for Dylan, who put down her chopsticks and let out a breath as she let her cheek rest in her hand. A worried look crossed Evan’s face and he set his own food aside to focus his attention on her. “You still feeling sick, Dy?” he questioned. He definitely wasn’t oblivious enough not to notice that Dylan had been rather off for the past week or so. Obviously the worry lessened now that they returned home and illness didn’t almost guarantee death like back through the anomaly, but it didn’t stop him from worrying over her wellbeing. The stress they were both under at the moment undoubtedly did not help her at all.

Dylan shrugged slightly before answering. “Off and on,” she responded. “I’ll be fine, though.”

“Hasn’t it been over a week?”

Toby quickly swallowed a mouthful of fried rice. “Shouldn’t you go to the hospital or something? I mean, it could just be from stress, but if you got sick with something back there that could be dangerous.”

“Look, guys, I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine. I just need some fresh air. I’ll be back in a bit.”

With that, Dylan stood from her seat, walking swiftly towards the lab’s exit. Evan sighed heavily but didn’t go after her, knowing that being too persistent would only make matters worse. Mac, however, raised his eyebrows, momentarily ceasing his chewing of the piece of pork in his mouth to speak. “Says the woman who nearly upchucked upon smelling the food.” Shrugging, he went back to his food, as did the rest of them. They all knew if Dylan needed a little space it was something that should be given to her. After all, she was going through a lot right now.

The remaining three ate through their food at a rather quick pace, passing around the boxes as they dipped their chopsticks into them. Toby almost immediately barreled right back into working while Mac dealt with most of the clean-up. Luckily with takeout, even he could handle that. Evan interrupted the process, however, pulling Mac off to the side before speaking up in a relatively low voice. ”Mac, can you do me a favor? Do you think you can manage to get Dylan to see a doctor? Y’know, just to make sure she’s alright.”

“You really think I’m goin’ to be able to convince her? She’s a stubborn girl, that one,” he replied as he tossed one of the white boxes into an empty bag.

“I never said you had to convince her to go,” Evan continued. “Just tell her you’re…taking her to the park to get her mind off stuff. Going to grab coffee. Whatever works. I just don’t want anything to happen to her when we’re already missing Evelyn. Can you do it for me? Please?”

For a moment, Mac hesitated, but he soon nodded slowly. “Alright, I’ll do it. Can’t make any promises, though. I assume you know better than anyone how stubborn Dylan can be.”

Evan nodded, but there was a small trace of a smile on his face. “I know. Thanks, Mac.”

“No problem, boss.”

It took only a few moments more for Mac to finish dealing with the food cleanup and head on his way. Meanwhile, Evan and Toby both resumed working, desperately trying to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible. A little over an hour later, the pair returned, and Mac seemed clueless as ever about the situation when Evan tried to question him. Though Mac did assure him that whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be anything bad. In fact, the nurse gave him a rather cheery smile when Dylan walked out and met up with him, so he assumed it couldn’t be anything serious. Or if it was, not in a negative way. Evan took that as a small comfort. Besides, he couldn’t exactly ask Dylan about it since upon her return she announced she was taking a nap and went up to Evan’s office to do just that. Although they all tried to get her on one of the couches instead, sleeping on the soft rug in Evan’s office was much more similar to the mammoth furs she’d been sleeping on for the past three years. She still needed to adjust back to normal sleeping accommodations, so for now sleeping on the rug with a pillow and blanket would do just fine. She laid there for a while until the empty feeling finally made her dig up another pillow, which she proceeded to wrap her arms around once she laid back down. She was used to holding Evelyn as she and her daughter fell asleep, and although a pillow was nowhere near a suitable replacement, it was only temporary and would do in a pinch.

Not until later that night did Dylan finally awake, emerging from Evan’s office with tousled strawberry locks falling across her shoulders and a blanket wrapped around her. Coming down the stairs she found Toby lying on one of the couches, a blanket draped over her as she sneakily worked on something no doubt anomaly-opening-device related on her tablet. When Toby heard Dylan’s footsteps approaching, she looked up and raised a finger to her mouth. “Shhh,” she mouthed, signaling for Dylan not to mention the fact she was awake. Dylan smiled and gave her a nod, a silent promise to keep her mouth shut. Dylan figured Evan forced Toby to get some sleep and Toby was defying that to keep working. Dylan couldn’t scold her for that. If she were in the position to work on the device that would bring her daughter home, she would do the same. 

Continuing her descent she finally arrived at the end of the stairs and walked towards Toby’s desk area, where Evan still seemed hard at work. He didn’t notice, too wrapped up in work to hear her footsteps, and Dylan stood at the base of the stairs watching him for a few moments. Evan’s eyes were clearly bloodshot from lack of sleep – she knew he hadn’t slept the previous night from being on night watch – and the dark circles under his eyes were noticeable even from a distance. It pained her seeing him like this, and she felt completely useless in this situation. This was the first time they hadn’t really worked as a team since she met Evan, but it couldn’t be helped considering her forte was not dealing with gadgets and new technology. Dylan was almost completely clueless when it came to that kind of thing, and she never hated that more than she did right now.

A loud thwack sounded in the lab as Evan smashed the whiteboard marker onto the floor in a rage, clearly frustrated over the lack of progress. Dylan watched for a few seconds longer as Evan set his elbows down on the desk and let his face fall into his hands. It only took a second for Dylan to appear by his side. She took a moment to drape the blanket she had over her on the chair before wrapped her arms around Evan, laying her head against the crook of his neck. Evan turned his head slightly at her touch and his head leaned against hers, accepting the comfort she tried so hard to give him.  

“Evan, you need to rest,” Dylan said finally, her voice softly breaking the silence.

“No, you know what I need? I need to get this damn device working so I can open up that anomaly and get our daughter back. That’s what I need.”

Dylan sighed stubbornly and tugged him up and away from the desk to face her. “And how successful do you think you’re going to be at that if you end up passing out from exhaustion because you won’t get any rest?”

He let out a breath in frustration, avoiding her gaze. It took a minute or so for him to finally look at her again and he sighed heavily before opening his mouth to speak. “How did that doctor’s visit go?”

Dylan frowned at the subject change, knowing he was completely avoiding her order. That and she’d been far from happy when Mac suggested they go grab dessert for everyone and take it back to the lab and she ended up at the local hospital instead. She’d known it was probably a necessary trip to make in the very near future but her focus had been more on other things and she intended to save that for later. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the issue right now. The issue was she was worried over Evan’s wellbeing and he needed his rest if anything was going to get done. “Don’t change the subject on me, Evan.”

“I just want to know how it went, Dylan. You went off to sleep as soon as you came back and you’ve obviously haven’t been feeling well for a while now. I just want to know whether or not you’re alright.“

“And I can tell you that  _if_  you agree to get some rest before you start working again.”

Evan took one look at the stern look on Dylan’s face and knew that trying to avoid the subject wouldn’t get them anywhere. They were both stubborn, but when it came to looking out for him Dylan’s stubbornness beat his own. Sighing in defeat, he met her gaze once more. “Fine. I can get an hour or two of shut-eye. Just…tell me if you’re ok or not.”

“I’m fine, Evan,” Dylan replied finally, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Stressed, obviously, but we all are right now. Other than that, everything’s fine.”

Evan breathed a heavy sigh of relief and a tiny, relieved smile appeared on his face. “Good, that’s…that’s good. We were starting to worry you might’ve caught something back there, and…well, it’d be bad. But if you’re ok then I’m happy.”

“Evan, there is something else, though,” Dylan began again, her voice soft. Evan raised an eyebrow curiously at this, and the slightest trace of concern reappeared on his expression. She took this as a sign to tell him quickly, seeing as prolonging the news would only make him worry. Reaching out, she put a comforting hand on his arm as she smiled softly up at him. “When we get Evelyn back, she’s uh…she’s gonna have a sibling to look forward to. I’m pregnant, Evan.”

 “Wait, you’re…” Evan’s voice trailed off, his eyes widening slightly, though the traces of a smile were quickly becoming visible on his lips and turning into a full blown grin. “Dylan, that’s great!”

Seeing how the bit of news obviously cheered Evan up enough to keep him from the frustration he still harbored over the device’s inability to work at the moment relieved Dylan greatly. It wouldn’t serve as satisfaction for that, but it certainly gave him something to look forward to, and Evan didn’t hesitate grabbing hold of Dylan to pull her into a hug. Just as he wrapped his arms around her, however, a voice from the stairs interrupted them, and both snapped their heads in that direction.

“You’re what?!” exclaimed an excited Toby as she sat up from the couch, hair tousled and blanket and tablet both sliding to the floor. Apparently eavesdropping caused her to forget her previous act of feigning sleep when Evan sent her to bed for the night.  Swinging her legs back on the ground, Toby stood from the couch and came down the stairs. It only took a moment for her to reach them and she quickly grabbed them for a hug. “I’m so happy for you guys!”

Although Evan and Dylan were slightly shocked from her sudden entrance, both couldn’t help the smiles on their faces as they returned the hug. “Thanks, Toby,” Dylan replied softly as she grinned at her friend.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” Evan looked down at her in mock disapproval, though the happiness was still obvious behind that.

“Yeaaaah, well… That wasn’t working out.” Toby gave a guilty shrug and a cheeky grin. She doubted he’d be too angry with her considering how much the mood lightened with Dylan’s news. “So instead, how about I get back to work while you get a little rest like Dylan told you to? We don’t want the little one’s big sis missing too long, right?” Toby raised her eyebrows, giving Evan a hopeful look as she reached over to pat Dylan’s stomach for emphasis.

Evan didn’t respond immediately, his expression lingering between a stern look and a smile. Finally the latter won out, however and he sighed in defeat. “Alright, fine. But I’ll be back to work in about an hour. Wake me if anything happens.”

Toby did a small fist pump at her success and scrambled back up the stairs and retrieved her tablet before returning to her desk. Evan made his way to the couches and laid down on one of them, his eyes closing once his head hit the arm rest. Despite how determined he was to get things working and open up that anomaly once more, he was exhausted. The past three years he’d never gotten much sleep due to night watches and eagerly awaiting signs of some anomaly reopening for them to return home or otherwise watching over his resting family. Not to mention times where he could have slept but never managed to because thoughts of home and all the people left behind that continuously roamed through his mind. Of course, even now he couldn’t properly sleep because of the worries in his heart over his daughter, still back in that tent when they should have taken her along in the first place. Leaving her in another’s hands for a few minutes as a precaution had been a wise choice considering the dangers that could have befallen otherwise, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work out in their favor. Hopefully reopening the anomaly would, however.

Downstairs, Toby had already gone back to work, and Dylan sat at the desk to watch the progress. As the hours ticked by Dylan eventually fell asleep at the desk, her head resting against her arms. Once Toby noticed she took a short break to throw a blanket over Dylan’s shoulders and then kept at the device. Evan slept far longer than an hour, but Toby didn’t bother waking him. Both of them needed their rest. After spending the last three years in a place where they no doubt resorted to fighting for their life day in and day out, they deserved their sleep. She could do this for herself for a few more hours while they rested up. Toby never bothered glancing at the time, and she had no idea whether the sun had risen or not yet. She was too wrapped up in her work. After a time she’d switched over from working things out on both the whiteboard and her tablet, she returned to the device, fiddling with the wires within it. Another hour or so passed before Toby at last took the backing of the anomaly opener and screwed it on again, then proceeding to adjust the various dials and buttons, fixing up the settings.

It wasn’t until Toby noticed a small flash of lights flickering just past her desk that she finally moved her attention from the device, although she still held it in her hand. Focusing her gaze upwards, she saw the traces of light just beginning to form into a small circle. Toby’s eyes widened as she quickly realized it was working once more, and once she messed with the dial a little more it eventually stopped flickering. Now all she had to do was figure out how to get it fully open. Before Toby could proceed with that, however, she heard footsteps coming from the Tank’s entrance, and Mac’s cheery voice followed a second later, ringing through the lab as he made his way down the stairs.

“’Morning. I see we’re making progress there! Those two buggers leave you to do all the work yourself?” Mac came to a stop beside Toby, a grin lighting up his face, though he looked pleasantly shocked at the sight of the anomaly.

Mac’s voice woke both the sleeping figures. Dylan groggily lifted her head, pushing her long locks from her face before rubbing sleepily at her eyes whilst Evan’s mad scramble from the couch and down the stairs sounded from up above.

“Toby, you got it working?” Dylan asked, a hopeful smile settling onto her face as she quickly came out of her sleepy state and noticed the ball of light in front of the opposite wall.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?!”

Evan came to a stop on the other side of Toby, eyes turning from the beginnings of the anomaly to Toby before he looked down at the device still in her hands. “I figured you needed the rest,” she replied, shrugging. “And I was too much on a roll to stop. Obviously, that worked out because it’s working now. I just gotta figure out what settings are gonna fully open it up. Right now it’s—”

“—a baby anomaly?” Mac cut in and they all looked at him, unable to suppress a small twinge of amusement.

“Yeah, if that’s what you wanna call it.” Toby nodded and turned her attention back to the dials and buttons.

In this time, Dylan had slid off the desk chair and came to stand beside Evan, upon which he promptly wrapped his arm around her back, holding her close. After a short time it became obvious the device was indeed working, which meant they could prepare for going in. “We should change into our old clothes so they recognize us,” Dylan suggested. “I have them folded up in my office.”

Dylan had already pulled out of Evan’s embrace to head towards her office, but his hand grabbing for her arm again stopped her in her tracks. “Dylan…I think you should stay here. Mac and I can go in. Mac, you go grab a tranq rifle so you can guard the anomaly once we’re in.”

“Got it, boss,” Mac said, giving a quick salute before walking over to where the tranquilizer weapons were stored.

Dylan, however, was not so cooperative, and she yanked her hand out of Evan’s grasp quickly to place it at her side once more. “Evan, I’m not staying behind. She’s my daughter, too. I’m not sitting around here waiting when I could be in there getting her. We spent three years there. I  _gave birth_  back there. I can handle going back for five minutes to get our daughter and come back.”

Evan appeared ready to argue, but before he could do so heels clacking against the tile floor sounded from the entrance until Ange came into view beside the railing, Ken at her side. Looking closely, it was obvious that Ken had his hand settled on the small of her back, but she quickly nudged him a few inches away with her elbow before taking a quick look around the lab. It only took a second for Ange to notice the small anomaly forming against the wall and her eyes widened slightly at the sight. Ken obviously noticed the anomaly as well judging by where his eyes were fixated, but Ange was the first to speak.

“You got it open already?” she inquired, her gaze turning from the half-formed anomaly to Evan and Toby once she’d gotten down the stairs.

Toby looked up and nodded. “Still working on getting actually  _open_  but we’re getting there.”

 “What’s he doing here?” Evan was gesturing to Ken, of course, and a slightly irritated look appeared on his face as he looked at the man. Sure, Evan had let him on the team, but he preferred the man to stick with things on the side, not directly coming onto the scene where he wasn’t needed. It always bothered him immensely and when the situation right now was so delicate he especially didn’t want Ken there. He still didn’t quite trust the man.

“Oh, see, Ange thought it might be a good idea if I—“

Ange quickly put a hand on Ken’s arm to stop him, knowing full well that Evan wouldn’t take as well to an explanation from Ken as he would her. Once Ken’s voice ceased and he gave an apologetic grin in Evan’s direction, Ange looked over to Evan and began explaining. “I asked Ken to come and lend his expertise with everything if necessary. But apparently, you guys got everything worked out.” She gestured towards the anomaly.

“But since I am here, I’m fully willing to offer my services as much as I can,” Ken cut in hesitantly, although the enthusiastic grin never faltered from his face.

Evan’s eyes shot back and forth between Ange and Ken, clearly frustrated over Ken’s presence. He finally spoke, however, as he moved to stand by Dylan and walk towards her office. “You can help by sitting down and staying out of the way. How’s that sound?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, instead taking Dylan’s hand as they walked into her office and grabbed their old, animal hide clothing. Although Evan still didn’t approve of Dylan coming along, he knew she had a point and honestly, he wouldn’t be able to keep her from coming along anyway. Not when she obviously had her mind set on it. With their old, hooded, animal skin clothes in hand they quickly made their way to the locker rooms, undressed, and threw on the old clothes. It felt odd switching back when they were just getting used to modern day clothing again, but it was in their best interest to return in these. It would cause less of a scene.

Once fully outfitted, Dylan pulled up the hood on her top, letting it rest over her head. She turned to Evan, expecting him to have done the same, but instead he was merely standing there, gaze lowered towards the ground. Dylan could never miss the trouble look on his face, and she moved to stand in front of him, reaching out to pull his own hood over his head and giving him a soft smile. “What’s bugging you, Evan?” Dylan asked. She could always tell when something was bothering him, and that instinct only improved with the amount of time they’d spent together these last three years. Reading him proved a simple task by now.

“What if that anomaly doesn’t lead to the right time?” Evan said finally, expressing the worry that Dylan herself had been trying to keep from eating away at her. “Or what if we’re a few months off and they’re not even there anymore? What if it’s the right time but it’s not the right place?”

Dylan sighed heavily, remaining silent at first. His worries were legitimate, of course. Still, she had enough faith to think otherwise considering the people working on the issue. “That’s what Toby’s in there working on to make sure that doesn’t happen. She explained it to me last night, and it’s supposed to work so we can set it to the right time period and place. So long as the settings are right, it should open up to right where we were yesterday. And assuming the progress in there is still going well, we’ll have her back soon. Don’t worry, ok? Everything’s gonna be fine.” She mustered up a comforting smile and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss against his lips.

While Evan didn’t seem completely convinced, and rightfully so (even Dylan had her doubts), he appeared somewhat comforted by her words. Nothing would fully quell either of their fears until they had their daughter back in their arms, but that wouldn’t happen at all if they stayed in here worrying over everything. They needed to get out there and bring their daughter home. Dylan reached forward with her hand and grabbed hold of Evan’s, giving his hand a tiny squeeze before urging him out the locker room door. They arrived at the entrance of the lab just as Ange left it in her return over to her own office. Unlike most of them, her job didn’t revolve around the anomalies, so she couldn’t stick around there all day. When she saw Dylan and Evan standing there, she stopped and the lab door closed softly behind her.

“Toby has the anomaly up and functional,” Ange informed them. “Or it should be anyway. Mac stuck his hand through for about a minute and nearly gave himself frostbite. So they’re assuming it leads to the right place.” A trace of amusement settled onto her features as she passed on the information. “But everything’s ready to go and they’re just waiting on you. So…good luck. Also, Toby gave us the news, so I think a congratulations is in order, too.”

The two smiled softly at her words, and the update on the anomaly certainly seemed promising, which helped ease their worries a bit more. “Thanks, Ange,” Dylan replied, feeling rather happy for Ange’s genuine support over the matter. Honestly, Dylan still couldn’t help but feel terrible over how things turned out, but spending three years stuck in the past changed things for everyone. The whole team understood that.

Ange nodded slightly and began walking off, but before she could take more than a couple steps, Dylan felt Evan’s hand leave hers. It only took a second for him to catch hold of Ange’s arm, and he pulled her into a hug, clutching her close. Dylan couldn’t help smiling softly at the sight. He’d gone years without his best friend, after all, and leaving their relationship in a questionable area didn’t help matters at all. He needed his friend. After a few moments, however, Ange pulled away, patting him on the arm as she left his embrace. “Hey, why are you still sticking around here? Go get your daughter back.”

“Thank you, Ange,” he said softly after giving a small nod at her words. Even though it was a simple repeat of the words Dylan already spoke in regards to Ange’s congratulatory remark as well as the update she’d given them, Evan’s had an entirely different meaning behind it. It wasn’t only for those things. It was for everything. For still continuing to be there for him through everything even when he didn’t always show his appreciation as much as he should have. For forgiving him for ending up with someone else and becoming a father when by all rights, they’d still been together when he got trapped in that anomaly. Things didn’t work out for them in that way, but he still had her as a friend and that was one of the most important things to him. Evan could scarcely remember a time when Ange wasn’t his best friend and he felt overwhelmingly relieved knowing that none of the events that transpired due to the anomalies made him lose her.

It was with a final, encouraging smile that Ange finally turned and left them. Even if Toby had the device running well at the moment, there was a small chance it could malfunction again, and they needed to hurry if they wanted to vastly lower the possibility of them winding up stuck there again or never making it inside to begin with. Dylan reached out and opened the door to the Tank and she and Evan hurried through, rushing their way down the stairs. Once glance towards Toby’s desk and they could see the anomaly shining brilliantly against the wall, no longer a tiny, closed ball of matter that wouldn’t take them anywhere.

“You two sure took your time. We’ve been ready for ages. I nearly lost my hand trying to see if that thing leads to the right place.” Mac’s voice chimed at them as they arrived at Toby’s desk, and he’d since put on gloves and a fuzzy hat that came down over his ears in order to prepare for the cold. A tranq rifle was slung around his shoulder, and he held a large coat in his hands to put on just before they went through.

“I got it up. If Mac freezing his hand off is any indication it should lead to the right time period. Whether or not it’s the same place or the same amount of time has passed there…” Toby’s voice trailed off and she frowned slightly as her gaze moved from them to the anomaly. “I guess you’ll just have to see when you get there.”

Both nodded at her words. Of course this plan wasn’t completely foolproof and they both knew that. But there was still a decent chance that it would work out, and they wouldn’t give that chance up for anything. It wasn’t long before Dylan, Evan, and Mac were all gathering in front of the anomaly, readying to enter. Mac paused for a second to slip the coat on over his shoulders and adjusted the rifle strap once he had the coat on to make sure he could still use the thing properly. He’d been in a few anomalies since after Dylan and Evan initially wound up stuck, but he eventually had no choice but to listen to Toby’s orders not to go in there while she worked on the device so they could ensure they were actually going into the same place that their friends ended up, rather than wandering around aimlessly and risking getting stuck somewhere themselves. Nevertheless, he still felt a surge of adrenaline about going through it. Hopefully, this trip would prove far more fruitful than his previous rescue mission attempts through anomalies from the past three years.

Once they were ready, the trio wasted no time in heading straight through, and were met with an icy chill instantly. Mac shivered audibly, cursing under his breath at the freezing weather. Dylan and Evan felt the chill just as much, but living with it for so long had them used to it and they could easily stand there without shivering violently. They took a quick look around, trying to discern whether or not they wound up in the correct place. By the looks of it, it looked similar, but they could tell it wasn’t quite the same. It worried them both, but just because the anomaly didn’t open up in the same exact spot didn’t mean for certain they were out of luck.

“Mac, you stay here and guard the anomaly. We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Evan instructed. “Try not to freeze before we make it back.”  

“Sure thing,” Mac replied, just barely managing to get the words out through the chattering of his teeth. “If it gets too chilly I’ll just pop my head on through the anomaly and warm up a bit. Never thought I’d be using Vancouver as a fireplace, but I suppose that’ll work.”

Dylan and Evan chuckled lightly at his words, and Dylan gave him a pat on the arm. They could always count on Mac to come up with something amusing even in situations like this. “We’ll hurry as fast as we can. It shouldn’t take us longer than fifteen minutes tops, if even that.” At least, she and Evan both sincerely hoped it wouldn’t take longer than that.

They hurried on their way as quickly as possible, though it took them a minute or so to grow accustomed to walking through the snow again. Normally walking with spears or a walking stick in general aided greatly but they didn’t have that right now. For a couple of minutes, they walked in silence, both surveying the area in an attempt to find something they knew they recognized for certain. “You think we came out in the right place?” Dylan asked after a few moments, almost hesitantly. They were both thinking it, of course, but neither wanted to think about the negative possibilities.

“Honestly? I don’t know. We might just be a little off from the location or… Well,” his voice trailed off, not really wanting to utter the other possibility. The other being that they were in a completely different area or not even in the right year at all. He sighed heavily, a cloud of air appearing in front of his mouth as he did.

Another moment of silence passed, but when Dylan spoke up again, there was a heavy amount of excitement in her voice. “Hold on, I think I know where we are,” she announced, jogging ahead slightly as she followed the cliff wall. Evan hurried after her when she turned the corner. Just as soon as they came around it they both stopped, and just a little more of their worries could be quelled for now. “Looks like we found the right place.” And Dylan was right. Because this was the exact spot where they’d caught the anomaly home.

From there they both knew the way to the encampment, provided it was still there. It took only a short time to arrive and a heavy sigh of relief left each of their mouths at the sight. The encampment was still very much there, and from the looks of it, the same one. There would have been a different position of tents, at the very least, had it been a different one, but if memory served them correct everything looked exactly as it had just the other day. The grins were unmistakable on each other’s faces as they turned and looked at each other, and they instinctively grabbed for each other’s hands, fingers lacing together as they walked the short distance towards the back of the camp where their tent was located.

When they reached the tent, Dylan gave Evan’s hand a small squeeze and pushed back the flap, a flood of relief washing over her as she took in the sight before her. The same girl who’d been helping them ever since they arrived was sitting there in her normal spot in the corner, cradling a bundle in her arms. When Dylan and Evan entered the girl looked up and the joy and relief on her face appeared immediately, and the expressions on their own faces mirrored that. Dylan let go of Evan’s hand only to rush forward and take the bundle in her arms. “Evelyn,” she whispered softly out of sheer relief, tears stinging at the corners of her eyes as she clutched the small girl to her chest, pressing tiny kisses to the top of her strawberry head. Evan came up behind Dylan, wrapping an arm around her back and leaning down to kiss them both on the cheek. As he looked up once more, he gave the girl a grateful nod in thanks, knowing that words wouldn’t be understood if he tried.

The girl standing in front of them smiled, happy with the smiles of gratitude Evan and Dylan both gave her. However, when they moved towards the flap of the tent to exit, a confused look came over her face. Dylan stopped then, and she gave her an apologetic look. Passing Evelyn over to Evan, who willingly took his daughter into his arms, Dylan walked a couple of steps forward to wrap her arms around the girl. She couldn’t tell her how much they appreciated all the help she’d given them. Since the first day they ran into the tribe of nomads she’d assisted them greatly in getting settled in and adjusting, and after Evelyn’s birth she helped with her, too. They wouldn’t have gotten on half as well without her help. It didn’t matter that they didn’t even know her name. They were grateful nonetheless, and neither could help feeling guilty about the fact they couldn’t so much as explain why they were leaving or properly tell her they were saying goodbye. Hopefully the looks of gratitude on their faces and Dylan’s embrace was enough.

When as much of a goodbye as they could muster was done, Dylan took Evelyn back into her arms as they left the tent and they made their way quickly back to the anomaly and Mac, Evan’s arm wrapped around her the entire way. When they reached the anomaly, Mac’s head was completely out of sight, stuck through the anomaly while the rest of his body was bent over backwards. Evan practically snorted at the sight and Dylan could barely suppress the laughter. Knowing from experience he wouldn’t hear them no matter how much they shouted with his head on the other side of the anomaly, Evan nudged Mac’s leg with his foot, immediately causing the man to jump and nearly lose his balance as he straightened himself out, his head reappearing.

“Are you tryin’ to scare me to death? You could’ve given me a warning,” he exclaimed, eyes still widened from surprise.

“Yeah, well, that kinda was your warning,” Evan told him, a slight grin on his face.

Mac rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “So we got her, then?” he asked, gesturing towards the small child in Dylan’s arms. Dylan nodded, and Mac grinned widely as he looked over at the little girl wrapped up tightly in her blanket of animal skin. He didn’t go over to her just yet, though. They needed to get back through the anomaly first, and the four hurried through, feeling much relieved at the feeling of warmth once they were out of the biting frost.

“I never thought I’d consider this place  _warm,_  but there you have it,” Mac muttered under his breath before throwing off the coat and setting the tranq rifle aside, then turned to Dylan again. “Alright, let little Evie see her Uncle Mac.” Dylan had just passed her over to a widely grinning Mac as Toby rushed over to them, looking incredibly relieved at the sight of them.

“Oh, thank  _God_ , it didn’t close,” she cheered, turning her focus down to the anomaly opener for a second to turn a few dials, successfully removing the anomaly in the process. “And good news, we’ve got a fully functioning anomaly reopener, so no more worries about anything getting stuck here! But aside from that, I’m really glad you guys made it back.”

She smiled, and it wasn’t long before the individual ‘welcome back’ hugs turned into a large group hug with Evelyn giggling cheerfully in the middle, excited over the sudden surge of people around her. When they all finally pulled away, Mac was still holding the girl and Toby moved to his side, to smile down at her, letting Evelyn play with her finger. “She looks just like her mom,” Toby commented with a grin up at Dylan, who smiled back happily.

“Seriously, though. Think about it,” Mac spoke up, obviously having been in his own little world. “’Evelyn Mackenzie Cross’. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? You should really consider that for her middle name. Did you two ever figure out the whole last name thing? ‘Evelyn Mackenzie Weir-Cross’ would be the other option, wouldn’t it? A bit wordy but it doesn’t sound too terrible.”

“Well, we haven’t worked all the name stuff out yet. We didn’t exactly think it’d be something to deal with before, but we’ll figure it out,” Dylan replied. “And  _maybe_  we’ll give you the honor of having a place in her name.” She chuckled lightly and glanced up at Evan, who had an equally amused smirk on his face.

“Yeah, now that you mention it we’ve gotta get that sorted, don’t we?” He gave a tiny sigh, but smiled over at Dylan with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “But we can figure it out right now if Dylan agrees to marry me.”

Dylan stopped, rendered momentarily speechless by Evan’s comment. After so long of dealing with his unexpected comments she should have gotten used to them, but somehow he always managed to temporarily stun her into silence every now and then. The corners of her lips quickly curved upwards as she looked up at him, pulling herself together to respond. “Evan Cross, are you proposing to me?”

Evan shrugged, but the grin on his face never left. “Depends on your answer.”

“And if my answer is ‘yes’?” she questioned, raising her eyebrow at him.

“Then a proposal is exactly what that was.”

Evan reached out to take hold of her hand, lacing their fingers together. Just as he was about to pull her in for a kiss, however, Mac’s voice chimed in once again and they both turned at the sound. “Right, so…Mackenzie for her middle name?” he suggested, grinning cheerfully at them.

Evan rolled his eyes and sighed, although the amused smirk on his face was easy to see. “Yes, that’ll be her middle name. On the birth certificate and everything. If you’re so insistent on it.”

“Then in that case, congratulations! You’d better make me the Best Man or you’re going to have to re-evaluate your priorities.”

They both chuckled and Toby couldn’t help but give them both another hug. Evelyn was eventually passed to Toby for a few minutes before Evan took her in his arms, and after a small murmur of “Daddy,” she curled her head against his chest, her eyes fluttering softly shut. She was obviously tired from all the excitement and Evan rubbed her back gently to help soothe her to sleep. Once Ange returned for a check up on things, she quickly joined in on the celebratory mood and by the time the office closed up for the night they were hosting a small engagement party. Even Ken attended, which Evan finally gave into after Ange asked and Dylan nudged him a few times. Besides, Ken has been hanging around all day and doing his best to stay out of the way, so he was already there. The celebrations were relatively low-key, since Evelyn slept through most of it and when she wasn’t, had a grand time going from person to person, familiarizing herself with her parent’s friends and even managing to learn their names by the end of the night, much to Dylan and Evan’s joy.

There were still many things they needed to do in order to settle back into their normal lives once more. For one, they needed a place to live. Second, an appropriate way to cover up the fact that they’d been technically missing the past three years (but that was what Ken was for). And a good plenty of other things to prevent any issues from arising with their return. But for now Toby and Mac offered to let them stay at their place until they got things sorted out, which suited them perfectly well for the time being. For the first time in a long while they felt they could properly relax.They were back with their friends, and they had a family together that they could promise a bright future for now that they were back home. Anomalies weren’t gone and creatures would undoubtedly still wind up causing a scene in the city, but even so, things were looking up. That was all that mattered. 


End file.
